Only Lovers Left Alive - A Film to Fall in Love With

Ensign Lestat's Film Log, 08/04/14

Admittedly, in the noughties loving vampires became a taboo because they'd been put through the ringer by a certain franchise.

But faith has been (partially) restored in the form of Jim Jarmusch's 'Only Lovers Left Alive'. I've had my eye on its non-existent release date for a while, and was overjoyed to learn that it would finally see light of day in cinemas in 2014.
OLLA follows the story of two vampires, eternal lovers Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton). They live worlds apart, he in desolate Detroit, she in up and coming Tangier. Their locations reflect their outlooks.

When Eve finds Adam at the depths of despair she comes over to be with him, only for her sister, Ava (Mia Wasikowska), to crash their party. It's not long before all hell breaks lose and poor Adam and Eve's lives are changed forever.

I can't say much else, because there is nothing else to say. It is a significant moment in our protagonists' lives that we follow in this film, but one could easily believe that it is irrelevant, if only it didn't feel so relatable. There is something so tangible about Adam's darkness and hopelessness.

Lovely Adam - Lost in despair.
The film exists because of its stylistic beauty and its haunting score. Seriously, I couldn't believe how much the music stayed with me and played on and on in my head. In tandem with the visuals, the music is likely to live long in your head.

The stylised look of the film adds a whole new dimension to it - it feels at once otherworldly when connected with the vampires, as well as real when they're out and about in the town.

What struck me most about the film is that it makes the lives of vampires practicable - I know, that seems almost like an oxymoron, but it is. What does a vampire do at night in Detroit? How does a vampire fly from country to country when avoiding the daylight?

It's really easy to get drawn into the world of OLLA and it's easy to enjoy being in that world as well.

Adam and Eve.
My sister is a huge admirer of Tilda Swinton's work, and though this film doesn't give her as much to do, she is wonderfully effervescent as the positive and in-charge Eve.

I loved the injection of energy brought in by Wasikowska. She was all bubbly and full of life, a vast difference from the languid state of Adam and Eve's lives.

The main reason I went to watch the film was Tom Hiddleston (but, of course). He's gorgeous in this film; utterly beautiful. The camera is also kind enough to lavish the audience with its gaze on him. He's fascinatingly melancholic and uptight. It's beautiful to watch him embody this drowning character so astutely.

Some have complained about the lack of pace or story in this film, and I would have agreed had it not been so absorbing. The mix of a dying world and dying hopes with two undeads is simply poetic. OLLA is a film to revel in, not just to enjoy.
Couldn't resist mate.

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